A few readers have written to ask about some activity this week on a portion of the old trash transfer site at 2nd and I . While there's always the hope that something exciting is in the offing, my sources tell me that in fact it's just WC Smith setting up a new construction staging for the apartmentprojects in the block just to the north.

I'm also hearing that the new section of I Street at the north end of this block could be opening by the end of the year, but, ahem, We Shall See.

This block, for those of you just joining us, is actually part of the Capper redevelopment footprint, and there are eventually plans for a 320ish-unit mixed income residential building there, along with ground-floor retail. There is currently no timeline for that, however.

(I had originally thought that perhaps a parking lot was going in, but I should have remembered that parking lots on any of the Capper redevelopment footprint actually require zoning approval first.)

And so since this post is so boring, how about taking the few extra minutes you might have used to ponder it to fill out the reader poll?

Part of my laziness over the past two weeks was being sure that Fort Spooky had probably completely disappeared while I was out of town, and I was hating having missed some final demolition shots. But whaddya know! Some of it is still hanging on:

My Building 213 Expanded Photo Archive gives you the before-and-afters from more than 50 angles, which still probably isn't every spot in the neighborhood that has/had the building in its vista.

And, late in the week another long-sought demolition wrapped up, as seen in this terribly exciting before-and-after:

After many weeks of teasing, it's now pretty safe to say that the old trash transfer building at 900 New Jersey Ave. SE is really getting demolished. Click to embiggen:

And some before-and-nows show that the eventual new block of I Street between 2nd and New Jersey is starting to be more than just a dream:

If you haven't been following along, this site spent much of the 1900s as a trash transfer station, before the DC Department of Public Works turned it into an operations area for heavy trucks and plows. The block to the north is going to be developed by William C. Smith, starting with the Park Chelsea apartment building, once some deep (deep!) utilities running below the site get relocated. The block between I and K is part of the Capper/Carrollsburg Hope VI redevelopment footprint, and is slated to eventually have a large mixed-income apartment building, though no announcements have been made of when that might actually happen.

A moment many people have been looking forward to (but which at least one person might be lamenting):

Yes, demolition has started on the smokestack at the DPW/Trash Transfer station at New Jersey and K. It'll take a few days, I was told, so you have a little more time to say goodbye.

Check back in a few, when I'll have some additional photos in the main photo archive (UPDATE: here's a few, from New Jersey and K). But here's a couple more showing the first bite taken out of the top of Ye Olde Smokestack:

Sending the old trash transfer station building on New Jersey Avenue to the big trash transfer station in the sky that's been almost as anticipated among residents as the departure of the school buses from the Canal Park site a few years back, and action over the past few days seems to indicate that the end is almost upon us.

The glass blocks came out of the large window areas last week, and some big chunks came out of the building's north side this morning, though then the work came to a halt. But even if it's not gone within the next 24 hours, clearly the clock is finally ticking, as you can see in the photo at right (see enlarged version).

If you're already feeling nostalgic for the structure, my photos of the building's interior and exterior taken a few weeks ago could ease your pain.

It's not exactly a palace, but it would have killed me had the old trash transfer station/DPW site at 900 New Jersey Ave., SE, been razed without my ever having gotten inside the fences with my camera.

Since the demolition countdown clock is now ticking (though no one wants to commit to an actual *when*, other than "near-term"), I finally got to traipse around the 1920s-era building on Tuesday.

I took far more photos than the building probably warrants, but the historical record must be served.

I even got to peek down into the first of the five 60-foot shafts being dug along New Jersey Avenue and then beneath the eventual I Street footprint in order to move a very big and very deep pipe. That work has to be completed before construction can begin on the Park Chelsea apartment building just to the north of the trash transfer station.

As for the station's lot once razing is complete, it could be a temporary parking lot until the eventual construction of a mixed-income apartment building that's part of the Capper-Carrollsburg redevelopment. All of this presuming that no one decides to lay in front of the bulldozers to prevent the building from being torn down.

It's no secret that most everyone is itching to see the entire building get demolished--and that's not just residents, but also developer William C. Smith, which can't truly begin construction on its 433-unit Park Chelsea apartment building just to the north until the trash transfer building is gone.

The demolition of the ramp is a piece of the puzzle, though. The digging currently happening north of the trash building is WCS relocating some deep (deep!) utilities along New Jersey Avenue and in the footprint of what will eventually be the new I Street, and demolishing the ramp will allow that work to continue. Once the utilities are relocated, and the clearing of the area along the new I Street is completed, WCS can start the full excavation for the apartment building and the construction of I Street.

The DC Housing Authority is handling the razing of the building itself, since it is on the footprint of the Capper/Carrollsburg redevelopment. (Plans call for a 300ish-unit mixed-income apartment building to eventually be built there.) Demolition isn't too far off. Really. Truly. But best to not attach any time frame beyond "near term" to it.

So many Tweets recently, such small items. Let's see how short I can keep them:

* Justin's Cafe is looking to have a block party on Saturday, April 14 (when the Nats and the Reds play at 4:05 pm), and ANC 6D has supported the request to close 1st Street between K and L. (Thanks to SWill for, once again, picking up my slack.) Still probably some bureaucratic hoops to jump through before all is confirmed. This was moved from Opening Day so it would be on a weekend, Will says,

On Monday, DDOT was plugging a "Parking Chat" being held with their head Terry Bellamy and the top dogs at DMV and DPW, and asked readers for "parking questions."

Because I can't ever resist being a smart ass, I replied: "My parking question: When will DPW be parking its truck fleet on Okie St. NE instead of New Jersey Ave. SE? :-)" (See that smiley? I was at least acknowledging I was being a smart ass.)

As I've written a number of times, this move needs to happen so that old trash transfer building at New Jersey and K can be demolished, which will allow for the transfer of a smidge of that property to William C. Smith so that they can begin work on the Park Chelsea apartment building on the block just to the north. It will also clear the way for the punching through of I Street from 2nd Street to New Jersey Avenue, which WC Smith will handle as part of the Park Chelsea construction.

This is a later time frame than we had last heard (which is nothing new for this spot), but it sounds like they certainly do expect to be moving at the end of March.

* Half Street: According to the Post, Monument Realty and investment partner Victor MacFarlane "are now thinking about when to begin" developing the rest of their Half Street project. The southern portion of Monument's side of Half Street (the east side--you know, where the big hole in the ground is) was originally designed with both a hotel and a residential building. And there's still no word from Akridge on a start date for their side of Half Street (the Bullpen side).

* DPW Move: While the timeline for getting DPW into their new home on Okie St. NE and out of their New Jersey and K site has slipped (shocker!), things are still moving forward, and I'm hearing that they should be moved early in 2012. But this delay is not as yet impacting William C. Smith's plans for a new apartment building just to the north--various permits have recently been approved, and WCS expects to start some deep infrastructure work, along with some clearing and grading along New Jersey Avenue north of I, sometime in December. (But WCS needs DPW out before too long because a smidge of DPW land crosses what will eventually be the new I Street and onto the WCS property.)

* Wha?: Is it just me, or does this article seem like it was written in 2009? It's a bit odd to trot out version 83 of the "there's no food in Near Southeast" story when there are leases signed for at least 10 new eateries to open in the next 12 months: Lot 38 Espresso at the old Little Red Building site (Any Minute Now!), Potbelly and Kruba Thai in the Foundry Lofts by spring, the Park Tavern at Canal Park by summer, and six choices at the Boilermaker Shops by the end of 2012. Not to mention probably another couple places in the Lumber Shed, perhaps a big one at 100 M, and a Harris Teeter in 2013. But I still predict that, when the slew of What's Happening Around Nationals Park stories come pouring out in advance of Opening Day 2012, the focus will still be on the lack of movement along Half Street (see Tidbit #1).

* New Bridge: Don't forget the dedication ceremony for the Yards/Teague bridge on Tuesday at 1:30 pm on the Yards Park side of the bridge. In addition to the mayor and DC Water chief George Hawkins, the organizers are also expecting Eleanor Holmes Norton, Naval District Washington Commandant Rear Admiral Patrick Lorge, USDOT deputy secretary John Porcari--and the Racing Presidents!